September

“…….for purposes of reasonable accommodation requests, neither the FHA nor Section 504 requires an assistance animal to be individually trained or certified.” Reread that first sentence….how does this impact your rental processes? Service animals and assistance animals are, indeed, valuable and necessary for many individuals dealing with visible physical health issues as well as not-readily visible physical and/or mental health issues. The proper protocols for housing providers to interact and accommodate tenants with these animals has hopefully just gotten a bit clearer with this recent lawsuit settlement between HUD and a California housing provider. Here’s the link to the announcement. I would encourage you to read through it to get a solid understanding of what it means for landlords and property managers: https://portal.hud.gov/hudportal/HUD?src=/press/press_releases_media_advisories/2017/HUDNo_17-060 In addition to the Fair Housing Act’s requirements, in April 2013 HUD did reaffirm that housing providers must provide reasonable accommodations to people with disabilities who require […]

Like you, I try and plan my day and evening activities to minimize windshield time. On Tuesday of this week, after dropping one of the kids off at his Boy Scout meeting, I zipped over to Lowe’s to pick up some Super Glue and Krud Cutter (to wash siding mildew). After paying for the items, I head over to the restroom before leaving the store and walk past the drinking fountains. Here’s what I saw: Normally I would have kept walking, done my business, and left the store. But this actually made me stop, chuckle a bit, and shake my head. Notice the stream of water? Now, I get that things break all the time. (Certainly not picking on Lowe’s….goodness knows they get plenty of my money each month as does Home Depot.) One of my operating companies manages commercial properties, so I understand that part. Kudos to the store […]

Hurricane Harvey. Hurricane Irma. Wildfires consuming thousands of acres in Oregon, Montana and Idaho. The U.S. is experiencing a horrible end to Summer 2017 in terms of natural disasters and, yes, it will impact your rental operations and profitability even if you don’t have rental properties in the affected areas. It’s the tsunami wave that will impact the marketplace after the flood water have receded and the last fire ember has been extinguished–the rebuilding efforts. The U.S. construction markets and supply chains were already overtaxed due to record housing sales and new home construction and overall improvement in GDP growth this year. Supply of skilled labor was already critically short–everyone from framers to electricians to hvac installers, carpet installers to drywall crews,painters to even low-level punch-out guys and cleaning crews. If you heeded the age-old wisdom of Harvey Mackay which recommends “dig your well before you’re thirsty“, you can survive […]

God Bless Texas. Hurricane Harvey has unleashed devastation on Texas. Our prayers for those who have lost loved ones, those who have lost property, and those First Responders doing everything in their power to rescue their neighbors. I personally have Clients who live in the Houston area impacted and it’s going to be a long haul for them to recover….Literally years to financially get back on their feet….But hopefully sooner for them to get back on their spiritual feet. If you can assist via a charity or other organization, please consider doing so. If you have already assisted or donated, THANK YOU. In lieu of today’s traditional 5-Minute Friday, I’m resurrecting an old blog article from 2015 that has important points to consider regarding protecting your rental property and tenant’s personal property from water damage. Sewer & Drain Backup Endorsements for Rental Properties Stay safe down there in Texas, […]